Disabled Iraq veteran no longer among the sheltered homeless thanks to local agency

Tuesday

Mar 24, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 24, 2009 at 10:59 AM

Homelessness and complete disability are two kinds of misfortune from which we try to keep a safe distance. In tandem, they can utterly devastate the stability we work to achieve. Although he hasn’t even reached his 30th birthday, Donald Ross has already faced the prospect of both.

Like a growing legion of Iraq War veterans, Donald’s life was thrown into chaos after he had a close encounter with an IED (improvised explosive device). But that may all change with the new lease on life—and a new home—courtesy of a local social service agency.

Chris Houston

Homelessness and complete disability are two kinds of misfortune from which we try to keep a safe distance. In tandem, they can utterly devastate the stability we work to achieve. Although he hasn’t even reached his 30th birthday, Donald Ross has already faced the prospect of both.
Like a growing legion of Iraq War veterans, Donald’s life was thrown into chaos after he had a close encounter with an IED (improvised explosive device). But that may all change with the new lease on life—and a new home—courtesy of a local social service agency.
Growing up in Marceline and the Westran R-1 School District, Ross dreamed of a life of public service, and he idolized the most influential public servant he ever knew. Donald H. Ross, Donald’s grandfather and namesake, had been the Marceline Chief of Police and the boy’s primary role model. As the elder Ross was also a veteran of Korea and Vietnam, the goal of military service was instilled early-on. But as young Donald was growing toward manhood under the roof and guidance of his grandparents, he never entertained the possibilities of losing his home or ability to serve...and then the unthinkable happened.
The injuries to both his body and psyche have left Ross, the grandson, incapable of recalling the exact date of the explosion that left him with a concussion, dislocated knees and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He knows his length of service in Iraq—June 13, 2004 to January 25, 2005—and knows his injuries were sustained on a patrol leaving Tikrit for Mosul, both bases of operation for al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Ross, who entered the U.S. Air Force in 2002 and worked in the motor pool, remembers he had only been in Iraq about a week when he was reassigned to Army 5th Special Forces Group Quick Response Force. “I was driving a 5-ton gun truck in a convoy that was leaving Tikrit,” Donald recounts. “The vehicle in front of us took a direct hit from an IED. Because the IED was daisy-chained, there was a lot of percussion inside my vehicle.” Dramatic air pressure change inside Donald’s truck dislocated both of his knees, initiated degenerative joint disease, and caused hearing loss as well as a ringing in his ears that lingers to this day. Degenerative joint disease or osteoarthritis is commonly associated with the kind of traumatic injury Donald sustained in Iraq and, in addition to leaving the afflicted with chronic pain, progressively restricts movement. It is one of the most common battle injuries in Iraq.
In addition to having his physical capabilities 40 percent disabled, Donald was diagnosed with PTSD, the emotional damage many who experience severe trauma will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
After the Army gave Donald a medical discharge on January 25, 2005, he suddenly found himself without the full support of the military within which he had served so honorably.
“I had nowhere to go, so I moved back in with my grandmother,” he recalls. Roberta Ross had lost her husband and young Donald’s namesake back in 1996. Donald reflects, “If it hadn’t been for grandma, I could have been homeless.”
Fully believing what his grandfather had taught him—that there are no free lunches—Donald set about finding employment, but soon came face-to-face with the limitations of his disabilities.
First he hired on as a convenience store clerk in Macon and then landed a job as a corrections officer in a Moberly prison. When his knees and degenerative joint disease wouldn’t allow him to withstand the rigors of being on his feet all day, Donald took a job as a security guard on the campus of Central Methodist University in Fayette. “I was promoted after just two weeks on the job,” he remembers, “but my knees wouldn’t allow me to climb stairs, so I had to quit that job too.”
The stress of being unable to hold a job for any length of time was complicated by the fact Donald needed to also care for his wife-to-be, Shawna Shakespeare, and her two small children he regarded as his own. He also has a new infant to think about.
“I would rather work,” says Donald, “but at least for now, I’ll have to accept disability status and rely upon my Social Security benefits.”
But Donald Ross has never been one to just sit back and collect social service benefits. He is now a full-time distance learning student at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa. Donald is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice and psychology.
Like his grandfather, Donald will probably serve a community as a law enforcer, depending upon the limitations imposed by his disabilities.
And thanks to the intervention of Green Hills Community Action Agency, Donald, Shawna, and their three children now have a roof over their heads, and Donald no longer has to be classified as one of Linn County’s “sheltered homeless.” The sheltered homeless are those who are staying with a friend or relative on an emergency basis.
“This opportunity has provided a better environment to raise a seven-year-old, a five-year-old and an infant,” says Donald. “I never expected for my country to help me back, and I had no intention of asking for anything in return, but I am very grateful.”
Last week, GHCAA held two open houses—at 1003 and 1007 Lincoln—celebrating the completion of two HUD (Housing and Urban Development) Section 8 houses.
Donald, Shawna and the three children will be living at 1007 Lincoln, and Tabitha McCollum will be residing at 1003 Lincoln. Both new residents were first on the waiting list and met specific income-related criteria.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.